Maala: Composure

Reviewed by Felix Mpunga

Maala: Composure

Auckland singer/songwriter Evan Sinton, aka Maala, takes you on a journey with this debut, intro number Composure setting an epic tone for the rest of the record. Lose Your Love comes soaring in with polished vocals backed by big bass synths and melodic percussion. The hook is lush and catchy. Reminiscent of quality internationals like SOHN, with broody brassy synths Maala’s sound is paving the way for a new generation of pop NZ is still discovering. Kind Of Love is a sexy upbeat track with subtle high-pitched arpeggiators to keep the groove moving paired nicely with a foot tapping 4/4 beat and a loud and catchy chorus. Breathe Out is more stripped back with Maala’s voice doing most of the work as a bass synth and minimal percussion wrap up the production. The songwriting is strong on many fronts, the wordplay on lyrics and chord progressions also helping make this an impactful first album. With congratulations to Josh Fountain who is named various times as a producer and engineer ‘Composure’ transforms into an epic pop release. Let Me Know stands out with hard hitting reverberated percussion reminiscent of FKA Twigs. Throughout Maala does a wonderful job of keeping an equilibrium between melancholy and optimism through the use of soft vocals, minor chord progressions and transitions that lead you to big hooks that are optimistic whilst being held together by grand percussion.